Five chain saws missing from town of Marcellus highway department

Marcellus, NY -- The town of Marcellus highway department is missing five chain saws, but officials don’t know if the equipment was lost, left at a work site, lifted from a department truck parked by the side of the road or stolen from the department garage.

“We’re not sure what happened to them,” town Supervisor Daniel J. Ross said. “We assume someone came in and took the chain saws. We’re trying to locate them. They’re not in the inventory.”

Highway Superintendent Don MacLachlan said he has filed a report about the missing chain saws with the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office.

Like Ross, MacLachlan said he isn’t certain the saws were stolen, although if that is the case he doesn’t expect to see them again.

“Just filed it so the serial numbers are out there,” he said.

Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. John D’Eredita said the report was filed Dec. 7 and lists the value of the five saws at $3,030. The report said two saws disappeared in early September and the other three sometime between then and Nov. 30.

Ross and MacLachlan said the town occasionally loans equipment to other departments, and it could be that the town has simply lost track of them.

MacLachlan said a saw designed to cut asphalt and concrete had been stolen while on loan to Spafford, but Spafford replaced that saw.

He said it’s also possible that one or more of the saws were simply left behind at work sites.

Sometimes, he explained, “stuff ends up under a brush pile.”

Ross and MacLachlan said the town will install a secure tool room to keep equipment under lock and key. MacLachlan said that at present the highway garage is left unlocked during the day so when workers return to pick up something they don’t have to fumble around for keys.

“We’re in and out,” he said, “and the place is wide open.”

Ross said the town has not filed an insurance claim for the missing saws, because officials can’t say for certain the equipment was stolen.